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Rob Ford: “Very intoxicated” at city hall night of St. Patrick’s Day 2012

Mayor’s “overexcited,” foul-mouthed and violent behaviour shocked staff and security as his party returned from a boozy St. Patrick’s night at an Esplanade pub.

Mayor Rob Ford returned to city hall “very intoxicated” and struggling to walk after a night at the Bier Markt on St. Patrick's Day 2012 according to an email written that night by a city hall security guard to a superior.

Two city hall security guards witnessed a “very intoxicated” Mayor Rob Ford, struggling to walk and swearing at one of his staff members, in the early morning hours after St. Patrick’s Day 2012.

This is according to an incident report sent by one of those guards to his supervisor — a document the Star requested through freedom of information law earlier this summer, and which the city initially declined to release.

On Friday, the day after Police Chief Bill Blair announced the service had obtained a video of the mayor appearing to smoke crack cocaine, city officials abruptly “reconsidered,” according to a letter that accompanied its release.

On Thursday, Blair told reporters he was “disappointed” after viewing the video of Ford taken in a home that, according to documents, was a “crack house.” This newly released security email describes the mayor misbehaving within the walls of a taxpayer-funded building, in front of his own staff and security guards.

Mayor Ford spent the night of March 17, 2012, drinking and partying with a small entourage in his sprawling second-floor offices and at two downtown bars. The evening involved drugs and two unknown women.

It ended with Ford shoving a young aide who was trying to prevent him from making calls while impaired, according to sources.

The city hall security report notes that, at 2:30 a.m., about half an hour after Ford arrived for the second time, “the mayor headed down and visited the security desk alone with a half empty bottle of St.-Remy French Brandy,” rambling about how “they” — it’s not clear who the mayor was referring to — stole his car. Ford told the two security guards on shift that he wanted to call police. Eventually the guards calmed Ford down, telling him he had not driven that day, and took the bottle of brandy from him.

Twenty minutes later, city hall staff “managed to get the mayor in a cab and off to his place of residence.” Earl Provost, a senior aide who is now chief of staff, went along. At this point, staffers Olivia Gondek and Isaac Ransom told the security desk “they appreciated our assistance and that we could get rid of the bottle of brandy,” the email states.

At 3:52 a.m., security officer Mohammadi emailed Yusuf Kassam, a senior city hall security officer, and Mohammad Mangla, the supervisor, a summary of the night’s events. “Due to the nature of the incident with the mayor, we will not be submitting any reports.” The email they sent, containing details of what happened, was later referred to as an “incident report” by a city hall communications officer.

Mohammadi wrote in the report that Ford was “quite pleasant” with security, but that he was upset with others around that night. The names of those individuals that drew his ire have been blacked out. “On a couple occasions (Ford) started to yell and swear ‘f--- this guy,” ‘f--- you’, etc” and made some very alarming allegations regarding (blacked out).”

Asked to comment on why an official report was filed in an email, city spokesperson Jackie DeSouza maintained this was “an appropriate way to file a security report … This email is in fact an incident report.”

Ford’s spokesman, Amin Massoudi, did not respond to a request for comment.

The security email notes that Ford had already been at city hall earlier that night. Prior to leaving to visit Bier Markt on the Esplanade around 11:10 p.m. Ford had spent several hours with “his entourage” in his suite of offices.

What happened behind those closed doors is not included in the security email, but three individuals who were working in Ford’s office at the time — including two who were present that night — have provided the Star with a detailed narrative of the night’s events. Two former staff members who were briefed on the events also corroborate the account.

It began around 7 p.m. March 17, when special assistant Brooks Barnett arrived for his shift staffing the mayor. What he found shocked him. According to sources, Ford was running around his office doing football sprints from a “3-point stance.” He seemed “overly excited” and impaired.

The mayor was with a woman Barnett didn’t recognize, as well as a man named Peter Kordas. Kordas was a former TTC driver and one of Ford’s long-time pals. The trio was drinking, according to sources.

Brooks, a junior staffer, thought things were getting out of hand. He called Provost, then Ford’s director of stakeholder and council relations.

Sources say Provost arrived just as Ford’s female friend was sparking up a joint.

Alarmed by this — mindful of the sensitivity of smoke detectors in the office and that the strong scent of marijuana can linger — the senior staffer suggested it was time to take the festivities elsewhere. Staffers Gondek and Ransom were also called in from their homes to help.

The group split into two. Ford got in a cab with some of his staff.

When the entourage pulled up at McVeigh’s Pub on Church St., Ford dismissively threw his business card at the driver, and it was left to the senior aide to pay the fare and cool down the situation.

According to information the Star has learned, the mayor was bored by the scene at McVeigh’s and urged his group to move elsewhere. “He wanted to party,” said one former staffer who no longer works in the mayor’s office.

It was around midnight that the group moved, about 10 minutes down Church St., to the Bier Markt, an upscale pub on the Esplanade.

Inside the bustling bar, Ford and his friends were ushered to a private room screened off by a curtain. Sources say another woman joined the party, bringing to at least six the number of celebrants.

As the Star reported in March, several staffers said the mayor appeared impaired on arrival. Staff told the Star they were worried the group was attracting attention. The DJ who worked that night told the Dean Blundell radio show that the mayor was fighting and carrying on “like an idiot.” Sources say an individual working at the Bier Markt suggested to Ford’s staff it would be a good time to leave.

Ford didn’t want to leave. Once they left the private room, Ford broke free of the group, “storming the dance floor,” according to sources. Ford was eventually escorted out by security, sources said, although bar owner Robert Medal denied that and said Ford was “an exemplary guest.”

Once outside, Ford stopped to pose for photographs with passersby on the Esplanade before climbing into a cab to return to his city hall office to continue drinking.

But back at 100 Queen St. W., the festivities took an ugly turn.

This is the point at which the security report picks up the narrative.

The memo’s author, security officer Mohammadi, who no longer works at city hall, wrote to his superior that “it was quite evident that he was very intoxicated as he had problems walking, was sweating profusely and was swearing at Provost as he walked by the security desk.”

Back in the office, three sources say, Ford decided to start making calls. Desperate, his young aides decided to unplug the phone. This sent the mayor into a rage. He shoved the slightly built Barnett with enough force to send him flying backwards.

At that point, Barnett rushed out of the office. Provost was afraid. Others intervened and it was decided that perhaps the party was over.

As noted in the security email, they got Ford in a cab. The mayor was accompanied home by Provost.

Peter Kordas, the Ford friend who was present at the Bier Markt and city hall, declined comment on this story. “I am sorry but I cannot discuss this with you, thank you and have a good weekend,” Kordas said in a brief interview Friday.

On Friday evening, staffer Barnett told the Star: “I'm not commenting on anything.”

Isaac Ransom, who quit Ford’s office and now works as the executive assistant to Councillor Peter Leon, also declined to comment.

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